NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF ANGLESEA. 415 



extensive salt-marsh, which is resorted to by large numbers of 

 Sheld-Ducks. On May 19th, when walking along the shore, we 

 saw several odd birds and pairs, and on reaching the saltings we 

 were delighted to find no fewer than sixty-one Sheld-Ducks sitting 

 or standing amongst the rushes. In striking contrast to a pair 

 of yelping Redshanks, the Sheld-Ducks were surprisingly tame, 

 often allowing us to approach within a few yards ; and even when 

 they flew, they merely moved as far as a lagoon at the edge of 

 the marsh, where they waded and fed in the shallow water. Near 

 Malldraeth Yard, where the high road skirts a big tidal pool, the 

 Sheld-Ducks, unlike the Herons which were feeding in the pool, 

 paid but little attention to passers-by. Many domestic Ducks 

 were feeding here, but the wild birds would allow no encroach- 

 ment upon the spot where they happened to be feeding, driving 

 the domestic birds away. The Sheld-Ducks often rose from the 

 marsh in pairs, the duck, on the wing, being noticeably smaller 

 than the drake. 



When we visited the district later — on June 12th and 13th — 

 we found about the same number of birds on the saltings ; and 

 in several places on the sand-hills we saw the footprints of old 

 and young leading down to the shore. Near Aber Menai Point 

 we came suddenly on a pair with eight small young ones, which 

 were paddling at the edge of the tide. Both old birds at once 

 squattered along the water like a Mallard duck, while the young 

 rushed into the waves, paddling out to sea in a different direction 

 from that taken by their parents. The male desisted first from 

 these alluring tactics, and presently both birds swam out and 

 joined the young, which were by then some distance from the 

 shore. 



Other birds with young broods were swimming at sea, and on 

 the marsh we came across a family which scuttered through the 

 rushes before us. One of these which we captured — a bird about 

 a third grown — was clothed in greyish-white down, with a broad 

 brown band from the forehead to the tail, crossed on the shoulders 

 by a band extending to the tips of the wings, and by another, in 

 the pelvic region, which extended to the thighs. The bill was 

 lead-blue, with a small whitish nail, and the legs and feet lead- 

 blue, tinged with olive-green. 



